Oscar De La Hoya is ready to step back into the boxing ring for the first time since his TKO loss to Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao in 2008.
The 48-year-old Olympic Gold Medalist from East LA, is scheduled to take on former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in a light heavyweight bout at the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles on September 11, 2021 on Triller.
The Golden Boy focuses most of his time as a boxing promoter since retiring after his loss to the Filipino ring legend.
De La Hoya was in Los Angeles with Vitor Belfort at a promotional event to discuss their upcoming boxing match.
ESNEWS asked De La Hoya what he thought about the upcoming August 21 Manny Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence Jr. welterweight unification bout and how it was like to face the ferocious southpaw.
“What people don’t realize is when I fought him [Pacquiao], I was a drained fighter,” De La Hoya told ESNEWS on his experience facing Manny Pacquiao. “He is still great obviously but it’s crazy because I was seeing everything coming, I just couldn’t block it, I couldn’t do anything it was like I was weak.
De La Hoya also gave his opinion on what Pacquiao does so well in the ring and why its hard for his opponents to counter him.
“The one thing people don’t realize is when he is on his toes and he throws punches people can’t see them because they are coming from different angles and you expect for him to stop but he doesn’t stop, so that’s when he hits his opponents. He will throw a three punch combination but then he keeps going and keeps going, and the opponent is thinking okay he is going to stop but he doesn’t stop. That is what Manny Pacquiao has, he has great conditioning and that’s a big plus for him.”
